In September 2020, Hagerty Insurance published a report titled Not So Niche by Tim Weadcock that took a crack at the daunting task of sizing the collector car market and hobby. In only six pages, Weadcock dug through various sources and came up with some interesting data.

In the U.S., the study determined the following figures about the collector car community::

• 31 million Collector Vehicles, or 11% of total vehicles
• 18 million Enthusiast Vehicle Owners, or 8% of licensed drivers
• ~$1T Total Value of Collector Vehicles  
• $30B Annual Sales of Collector Vehicles, with $1B of auctions and $1.8B from dealers, the rest is from the private market
• $28,500 Average Value of Collector Vehicle, with little more than 1% at more than $250K

Breakdown by Region of Origin:

• American - 55%
• European - 24%
• Japanese - 16%
• Other - 5%

It is incredible to see the estimated size of this market laid out. You can haggle with the counts and methodology, but kudos to Hagerty for trying and explaining how the numbers were derived. Oftentimes market estimates seem more like “black box” calculations, or as my dad better describes it as using the POOMA Method (short for  “Pulled Out Of My Arse”). 

New folks are joining our ranks at a good clip, in part fueled by the incredible success of Bring A Trailer that has attracted many first-time owners. Let’s keep these cars on the road and looking good so we can hand them on for future generations.

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